‘BoJack Horseman’ Recap, Episode 204: Party Foul

In BoJack Horseman‘s second season episode appropriately named “After the Party,” it’s Diane’s 35th birthday, and it’s going perfectly. Anything additional would be overkill. That overkill comes in the form of a surprise party Mr. Peanutbutter has planned for his introverted wife. Whoops.

Cut to two hours later, Diane is screaming about Tony Curtis’ death and guest are pouring out of the house.

We first follow Princess Carolyn, who is taking Todd home. PC almost runs over a child crossing the street, who looks suspiciously like a certain Adultman.

Furious, Princess Carolyn speeds home to drink and accuse her boyfriend of having a second family, dragging Todd along.

Once home, they hear someone knocking on her door. Panicked, PC tells Todd to hide so that Vincent won’t throw a temper tantrum. She opens the front door to reveal…Kevin, the little boy she almost hit earlier.

Kevin says that his dad, Vincent, will be there soon before going to the bathroom.

Vincent shows up and explains that he’s actually divorced and Kevin is his son. This causes Princess Carolyn to wonder if there are other secrets Vincent has been hiding from her. Vincent then leaves to check on “Kevin.”

Kevin eventually comes back, but now Vincent is using the bathroom. Weird how they can’t be seen in the same room at the same time.

This classic sitcom switcharoo continues for a impressive amount of time, each swap getting progressively more ridiculous. At one point, Vincent becomes inexplicably covered in the chocolate PC gave Kevin. Antics!

Finally, Princess Carolyn has had enough. She says it’s time for them to stop pretending, and they break up.

So…did she know he’s three children stacked on top of each other or…?

Getting off track…it’s a pun, people.

Todd plays the third wheel to a Her-inspired subplot that involves his phone falling in love with Princess Carolyn’s work phone. However, love is fleeting, especially when system upgrades are involved.

We cut back to the end of Diane’s surprise party. This time we’re following BoJack and Wanda.

Diane and Mr. Peanutbutter’s fight is making BoJack second guess asking Wanda to live with him. Even though things are great now, they might not be later. After all, they’ve only been dating two weeks. As a nervous (and distracted) BoJack wonders if they rushed into things, he hits a deer running in front of his car.

The deer limps off into the woods, and Wanda follows him so that she can take the deer to the hospital. BoJack eventually joins her.

They find the deer, and BoJack offers to pay for his hospital bills. Weirdly, this entire incident seems to strengthen BoJack and Wanda’s relationship, and they move on from their argument.

Getting off track…

In this episode, Wanda attempts a joke, and I have to side with BoJack. It’s not funny, and the punchline (can you call it that?) takes forever. But I guess as Wanda says, some things take time.

Back to Diane’s freak out, we’re finally following the birthday girl. It quickly becomes apparent that she’s actually angry at Mr. Peanutbutter for doubting her. We then dive into Season One’s relationship problems: Diane’s dislike of Mr. Peanutbutter’s grand romantic gestures.

Mr. Peanutbutter finally snaps, sarcastically apologizing for throwing her a party, and Diane accuses Mr. Peanutbutter of using her birthday as an excuse to throw himself a party.

Each elaborately decorated room of the party, including the Starbucks, seems to echo their fight: a combination of Mr. Peanutbutter’s showmanship, love of Diane, and failure to really understand his wife.

Diane eventually cools down. As they lay in their jello-filled pool, Mr. Peanutbutter makes an innocuous statement about wanting to spend as much time as possible with Diane before she joins Sebastian St. Clair in Cordovia.

A newly enraged Diane blurts out that she’s unhappy. Time for some real talk.

She admits that maybe this trip with Sebastian St. Clair will help give her purpose and that she fears falling into a routine — something that her older husband is ready for. She has one final thing to admit to her husband: he will never be her only priority the way that she is for him.

And he’s okay with that. They agree that even though Diane wants to change and Mr. Peanutbutter doesn’t, they can still be a happy couple.

BIGGER PICTURE

This episode was basically the definition os relationship drama, but let’s focus on the big one: Princess Carolyn finally broke up with her business transacting boyfriend. I know the whole switcharoo storyline was played for laughs, but damn, it hurt. PC and Vincent’s storyline is a prime example of what BoJack does so well: taking something inherently absurd and making it genuinely relatable and emotional. I’m sad for PC, but it’s for the best. She deserves a real man.

BoJack and Wanda seem to be pretty solid so far, as far as Horseman relationships go. Diane and Mr. Peanutbutter are a whole different story. The instability of their relationship, now marriage, has been a running theme since we first met the couple, and it seems like things have only gotten worse. I foresee a lot more PB and D drama, potentially coming from Diane’s search for purpose. Maybe there will even be a divorce.

Overall, this episode feels more like a plot line setup than a standalone story. That being said, I love the episode’s format.

BEST BACKGROUND JOKE

After the party, Diane is throwing away empty beer bottles as she fights with Mr. Peanutbutter, and she throws away the mime’s mimed beer. That’s dedication to cleaning.